This invention relates to an improvement in sewing machines and more particularly to an adjustable inlet to a stitch chain cutting assembly of a sewing machine.
Stitch chain cutting assemblies have been used extensively in industrial sewing machines, such as overedge or flatbed machines, to sever the leading or trailing end of a stitch chain. Suction draws the stitch chain into the cutting assembly through the inlet, where it is severed by cutting blades and carried away. The cutting blades are driven by either mechanical or pneumatic means.
Illustrative of mechanically driven stitch chain cutting assemblies are U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,209 to Gauch and U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,535 to Blackburn. Illustrative of pneumatically driven stitch chain cutting assemblies is U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,756 to von Hagen. Pneumatically driven stitch chain cutting assemblies are also commercially made by Union Special Corporation, Chicago, IL., under the tradename "AIR-KLIPP" chain cutters. Union Special Corporation machines utilizing the "AIR-KLIPP" chain cutting assembly include styles HF611K112MF, HF611K112MG and HF611K151MF.
Conventional practice in the field of overedge and flatbed sewing machines suffers the disadvantage that the inlet to the stitch chain cutting assembly of such machines is non-adjustable and is, therefore, not readily adaptable to accept stitch chains of various thicknesses. For example, on the machines manufactured by Union Special Corporation named above, when it is desired to alter the thickness of a stitch chain, it is necessary to remove the member defining the inlet and replace it with an inlet of a size appropriate to the desired stitch chain thickness. Therefore, one machine requires several different interchangeable inlets to accommodate the different stitch chain thicknesses employed.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved inlet to stitch chain cutting assemblies for overedge and flatbed sewing machines.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stitch chain cutting assembly inlet which is able to accommodate stitch chains of various thicknesses.